Two Feet 2017/18 – where are they now?

Over the years we’ve seen first-hand
how hard it can be to build sustainable organisations that create positive
change in the world. We’ve built an accelerator program specifically for social
entrepreneurs to give them the tools and confidence they need to build and run
sustainable social enterprises and mission-led businesses. Since 2013, over 250
people have taken part in our Two Feet accelerator program and we’ve seen the
incredible progress of many of those businesses. To share their inspiration, here are just
some of the successful social enterprises we’ve worked with over the last few
years:

Big Little Brush:

How
they make money: Selling sustainable, bamboo toothbrushes at the moment,
within the intention to increase their range. In their own words, Big Little
Brush sell little things to create big impact.

How they do good: Their impact is
two-fold. Firstly, the bamboo toothbrushes
are creating awareness of and reduction in the waste of traditional plastic
toothbrushes. Secondly, profits from Big
Little Brush support organisations like Red Dust who provide health programs to
remote communities in regional Australia.

Big Little Brush was borne from the
Co-Founder’s experience with a busted wisdom tooth, and the belief that
everyone should have access to primary health care as a fundamental human
right.

As we heard from BLB last newsletter,
since finishing the Two Feet program, Co-Founder Joel Hanna has used the
Business Model Canvas to clearly articulate their growth strategy.

How they make money: WIRE
provides a range of training, speakers, programs and other support to
organisations, enabling them to better address issues that affect women and
non-binary clients and employees. In particular, WIRE’s training and education
focuses on family violence, financial capability, gender equity, and resilience
and self-care.

How they do good: WIRE also
offers programs for women, non-binary and gender-diverse people direct to the
public at no cost, including a phone support line, walk-in centre and
activities program for those experiencing homelessness and isolation. Through
its feminist framework, WIRE is realising its vision: a society where women are
safe, respected, valued, informed, empowered, and free to make genuine choices.

WIRE has delivered training to organisations across sectors including community organisations, banks and government departments and is looking forward to expanding its training social enterprise following the Two Feet program.

How they make money: They design and
implement technology enhanced, food producing solutions in urban spaces.
They build indoor
vertical veggie/herb gardens (or Farmwalls) for hospitality, workplaces, and
schools.

How they do good: Farmwall’s mission
is to transform our cities and built environments into food producing
ecosystems to better our social and environmental outcomes. Farmwall products
reduce food miles, food waste, the need for pesticides, all with minimal water
and energy costs.

As founder, Geert Hendrix puts
it—Farmwall began out of the belief that it’s possible to combine design, food
production and technology to create future food solutions that fit with our
existing ecosystem.

The Two Feet Incubator program helped
Farmwall shape their ‘why’ and articulate their vision. It was a vital stepping
stone in formulating the path for this rapidly growing startup.

When was the last time you asked your customers what they thought? We use Customer Empathy Interviews to help businesses deeply understand their customers and design competitive products and services. It’s also been one of our top coaching tips for business owners...

A conversation with Geert from FarmWallGeert Hendrix founded FarmWall in 2016. Farmwall is an agrifood-tech startup that designs urban farming technology and experiences to enhance fresh produce accessibility in the city. In our constantly developing world, the need...

It’s one thing to make the choice to work from home, but it’s another to be forced to for reasons beyond your control. Even the seasoned work from homers are feeling the pinch in this time of forced isolation – I am no exception!! Oh, and throw in supervision of remote learning for your children and it’s even more challenging.

Two weeks ago, I shared with the team an analogy of a campsite. I reflected that our house has burnt down and we are struggling to reconcile the shock and the grief of all that is happening. I shared with them that I’ve been thinking that we need to set up camp, for now while we figure out how to reinvent for the new normal. We have a temporary place of residence and it’s not what we would have chosen but we can create from it. So, for the past two weeks, we have been focused on getting the campsite set up, trying to work out where stuff goes, who’s sleeping where and how to trade out of a tent.

Meet Difference Maker James Morgan and cultural tourism entrepreneur. James was a participant of our most recent Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) Accelerator Program. “I feel privileged to have an education, but I had to move away. I want to create more...

It fascinated us that creative industries aren’t included in Papua New Guinea’s GDP, in fact there is very little data to understand the economic impact of creative industries in PNG. This is staggering considering that creative industries represent $US2.250 Billion in the global economy (World Economic Forum, 2015). This includes all creative industries including visual arts, media, TV, music etc. Other research suggests Handicrafts contributes around US$32 Billion to the global economy (The Aspen Institute Artisan Alliance) but this is a difficult figure to nail down when whole economies don’t even count handicrafts in their GDP.

Other interesting facts from the World Economic Forum’s study found that Creative industries are more inclusive employers employing more youth (15-29 years) than any other sector, employ a higher percentage of women compared to other sectors globally and small business makes up a large portion of this sector as well. In the US artists are 3.5 times more likely to be self-employed.

What is TDi? This is a question we are asked all the time, and have struggled to answer with real clarity. TDi started as a private quest in response to societal problems, long before it became a public conversation which culminated into the entity today we call The...

We Work With

Case Studies

The TDi team acknowledges that we work, live and play on Aboriginal land, our offices are located on the land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation & we pay respect to their elders past present and future. Where ever our work takes us, we acknowledge the traditional land owners and pay our respects.